


For There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays

by imaginaryinspiration



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Depressing, Emotional Roller Coaster, F/F, Family, Frisk Needs A Hug, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Running Away, Sad, Tree Climbing, frisk is a small little bean, frisk needs a million hugs, mount ebbot, non-binary characters, people in the story cry, then the author cries, then the readers cry, very sad, will update tags as needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-16 17:59:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13059207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginaryinspiration/pseuds/imaginaryinspiration
Summary: Where did Frisk go? Frisk is running away from themselves and their better judgement. They come to a crossroads. Going one way would take their life in a happy direction. The other way will take them down a lonely direction.





	1. Saying Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Getting Lost; Being Found](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5791507) by [In_the_aroace_brigade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_the_aroace_brigade/pseuds/In_the_aroace_brigade). 



> So yeah sorry if this is too much like another person's story I did not mean it to be and the storyline is different but I guess it had elements of the story Getting Lost; Being Found by In_the_aroace_brigade
> 
> The similarities are that they are both where Frisk says they have places to go but they do not and instead they are homeless. Monsters try to find them and they hide. The plot is what is similar, but the actual story is not.

Frisk really liked the sunset. They especially liked watching it with all of their monster friends. So when they looked around at Undyne, and Sans, and Papyrus, Alphys, Asgore, and Toriel, all staring at the fiery ball in the sky, they felt really happy. They almost cried, just being content with having these people who actually loved them here.

One by one, the monsters left. Frisk had to giggle at each of the monsters’ reactions to each other, but they felt a little bad for Asgore. Everyone deserved a second chance! Everyone deserved to be loved and treated kindly. But Frisk was sure that eventually Toriel would give Asgore that second chance. 

Then, even Asgore left. Toriel just stood there for awhile not saying anything, but Frisk could fell pressure building in the air. Toriel turned to Frisk, her face kind, but curious. Oh no, here we go. Whatever question Toriel was going to ask, Frisk probably did not have an answer.

“Frisk… You came from this world, right…? So you must have a place to return to, do you not?” Her face looked pained, almost. “What will you do now?”

Frisk panicked. The question they were most hoping to avoid. They thought that maybe, if the question wasn’t asked, they could enjoy their time with their friends for a few hours more. But, alas. That was not the case. Frisk did not actually know quite what to say to answer that question. They really wanted to stay with Toriel, but they did not want to be a burden. They had already turned down the offer to be ambassador, and so it would just be an extra cost to house and feed them.

“I have places to go.”

It was true. They did have places to go. Just not a real home. Not really. Not like the home in the ruins. But it was selfish to have those thoughts. The home in the ruins was really nice, and not everyone can have that kind of thing. They couldn’t be greedy!

Toriel’s pained look grew more intense, but she tried to smile. 

“Ah.”

She paused for a moment.

“… I see.”

She didn’t talk for a long time, and when Frisk looked her in the eyes, she was not quite looking at them. 

After a while, she turned to walk away. Frisk panicked for a moment, because they knew that they were making Toriel sad, and this was a horrible decision! But then Toriel turned back one last time. “Frisk. See you around.” 

Toriel smiled at Frisk. A small, sad smile. She looked at Frisk for a long moment. Then she walked off. Frisk sat down and just watched the sun until it completely set. Then they got up and started down the mountain.

It was a long way getting down, and when they finally did, they were dirty and sweaty, even though it was chilly outside. It was only the beginning of autumn, though, so it was not too brisk outside. Not to frisk outside, they thought. That was bad, and they were mad at their brain for betraying them like that. Though the pun reminded them of Sans. They would call once they got home, they decided. Show the monsters that they were okay, in case they wanted to know.

They looked up at Mount Ebbot. Looked at the green mountain in all its glory, thinking about how it had been the home of an entire species for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. They thought back on Asriel. They were sad they could not save him. Everyone deserved a second chance. Even him. Everyone deserved mercy. That is why Frisk showed mercy to everyone.

They tore their eyes away from the mountain and started back to the bus stop that took them here. They weren’t even trying to fall down. They were just really energized that day and they wanted to go for a hike. They were really adventurous. They loved the adventure in the underground. They knew it was the greatest decision they ever made to go on the hike that day, even if they did fall down on accident. Frisk had not only managed to have a great adventure, but they met some amazing people and managed to free all of monster kind. Two birds with one stone.

But it was time to go home. So once they reached the bus stop, they waited for it to come. It was probably not going to come for a while, so they made themselves as comfortable as they could.

They don’t know how long passed, but it was completely dark by the time the bus came. Out here, away from the city, they could actually see the stars. They knew the monsters would appreciate that. They had been trapped underground for so long with only the twinkling crystals on the ceiling as a vague reminder of what stars were really like.

Now they could really wish upon the stars, though there were no Echo flowers to record what they said. Frisk would have liked Echo flowers to live on the surface. Maybe the monsters could relocate the flowers to their new home.

Frisk boarded the bus and paid their fare with some gold, and the bus driver looked shocked but did not complain. Frisk took a seat as the bus started its route back to the city. 

Once Frisk was back in their hometown, they started to their house. They walked a few blocks there, and then stopped. They didn’t want to go back home. They hadn’t even seen any indication that their parents were even looking for them and it had been a whole week since they were home! Now that they had experienced a mother as nice as Toriel, they did not want to go back to living like they were before. Their parents were nice, but busy. It was so selfish of Frisk to want to abandon their family for the monsters! What kind of person were they? So much for the nice and merciful and kind Frisk!

But, still. Did their parents even miss them? They decided to investigate themselves. They could hear music in the house. They walked over to the tree they always loved to climb, the one that could reach the window of their room on the second floor. They used that entrance sometimes, when they were sneaking back in the late night from one of their adventurous excursions. That must be why their parents were not looking for them. They probably thought Frisk was just out on another adventure. But they had never been gone this long.

They climbed into their room and the music got louder. It sounded like it was coming from their parents’ room. They creeped to the door. It was slightly ajar.

Frisk’s parents looked like they were having the time of their lives. They were partying. There were a few guests too, and there were broken glass bottles on the floor. It smelled bad. Like vinegar, maybe. Frisk realized it was alcohol.

Frisk suddenly got so mad. They did not want to deal with this! Their parents seemed like they didn't’ even care. Their parents were more selfish than they were!

Frisk just ran away, and they ran out the front door. Nobody heard it open and close, and nobody heard the loud footsteps and the crying of a child.


	2. An Attempt At Spaghetti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk finds a new home and the forest is set on fire.

Frisk ran out of their old home into the brisk night. They were upset, and they were crying. Maybe they should call the monsters? They were sure the monsters could offer them the help they needed. But that would be selfish! How could they keep forgetting? Asking the monsters for help would just be selfish, and it would prove that they couldn’t handle themselves. They were in fifth grade, almost eleven, and one year away from middle school. They were a big kid, and they should act like one.

With that mindset, Frisk stopped crying and gave themselves a moment to compose. They could do this. They were a big kid. They were big enough to save the entire underground. They should be able to handle something as small as this without going to the monsters for help. They had gone their whole life independent, why did they suddenly need the monsters for everything?

Frisk started running again after they had caught their breath. They had a new task at hand. Find somewhere to call home now that they would not be with their family anymore and they could not burden the monsters with their presence. Their breath came out white, twisting in the wind.

Eventually they reached a small park. They thought about how they always saw people sleeping out on park benches. Those people never looked too shaggy, even if they were a bit worse for wear. Frisk could handle it no problem. They were a big kid!

And so they went around in the park, looking for a bench that could best be sheltered from the wind. Maybe one that was by a tree. That could be some shelter. Eventually they found the perfect bench. It was just the one they were looking for. It was relatively close to the public outhouse. It looked sort of gross, it was a portable toilet, but who were they to complain? They also really liked climbing trees.

So Frisk decided this would be their new home. The portable toilet could be their restroom, they could sleep on the bench, store their belongings under it, and climb the tree when they wanted some fun. They could also play in the piles of leaves while they were there, and they could play with the kids on the equipment sometimes, as long as they made sure none of the kids saw them go back to their home. And so it was settled. With that thought, Frisk laid down on the park bench and went to sleep.

✦✦✦✦✦✦  
Toriel was sad to see her child leave like they had the ruins. But she supposed that was the whole point of their journey underground, to get back home. She was confused by their hesitation, and the way they worded their response to her question, but she dismissed the thought.

The monsters had decided to set up tents at the base of Mount Ebbot and spend the night there. They would confront the humans in the morning. Once night arrived, the wind picked up. Toriel sure hoped that Frisk had found somewhere warm to spend the night. It was too cold for a child of their age to be out in this weather. Though she supposed they had enough gusto and determination to make it through the entire underground. They needed to rest from their journey, though.

She had just finished making a fire with her magic for the campfires the monsters wanted to set up. Sans was already sitting right next to the fire, laying back. As a skeleton, he did not even have the nerve ends required to feel heat. So he was not even getting any warmth from the fire.

He suddenly talked. “hey, tori. can I ash you a question?”

She giggled a bit at the pun. “Of course, Sans.”

“where’s the kid? why didn’t they come back with you?”

Well.

“They…said they had ‘places to go.’”

He just nodded. He smile looked a bit forced right then, and then he hummed.

“welp. guess that’s it then. i just wish they would have said goodbye to papyrus.”

Toriel was quick to reassure him, and told him that Papyrus could call them anytime he wanted. They still had their phone, as far as Toriel knew.

Soon after that, more monsters gathered around the fire. Undyne came, and with her came Alphys, and then Papyrus. There were lots of others, too. The temmies were all huddled together so close, they almost looked like one big tem.

Asgore shuffled over too, still looking a bit awkward. Toriel glared at him out of the corner of her eye. He sheepishly backed away as far as he could from his former wife. Undyne noticed he was there and bounded over to him. She joked with the king of monsters and cheered him up a bit. They all looked really happy, the monsters. The scene was very homely, and nice. The only one that was missing was Frisk. Toriel wanted to care for the young child. She really did.

Toriel glanced around at the leaves falling as the wind blew. From what she had seen of Sans’ brother so far, she knew he would love the leaves. The red leaves that fell to the ground reminded her of the ruins. The dead tree in front of her home that always had red leaves falling from it.

She liked that tree. But she did not miss the ruins. She was finally out on the surface, and her child had made it through the entire underground without getting hurt or hurting anyone. They had been good, like she asked them to be. And they had made friends out of those who wanted to kill them. They were so merciful.

She was brought out of her reminiscing by Papyrus yelling loudly at Sans. As she looked at the commotion, she saw Sans had pulled out a bottle of ketchup and had started to drink it. Grillby looked like he had seen this a million times and did not even care anymore. Sans chugged the entire bottle and then looked at his brother as he wiped his mouth. He made a distant pun that Toriel did not quite register and Papyrus screamed even more loudly, if that was even possible. All the monsters just laughed, though Asgore looked pained and still a bit awkward. He had relaxed a little bit.

When someone said they were hungry, both Papyrus and Undyne jumped up and suggested spaghetti. Many monsters groaned at this and Alphys got up and moved away from her new girlfriend. She knew how this was going to end. Toriel, on the other hand, did not.

As soon as Papyrus and Undyne started to cook on the fire, though, she realized something was not right. She knew how to make spaghetti, and while the fish and skeleton monster had the ingredients right, they were not cooking right. In thirty seconds flat they managed to set the grass on the ground all around the bonfire ablaze, and also some of the trees nearby.

Monsters quickly ran and some helped to use their magic to put the fire out. Everything was resolved rather quickly, but Toriel learned to never let Papyrus and Undyne cook. The two culprits were both laughing and clapping each other on the back. Was this a normal occurrence?

Everyone settled down after that, and eventually all the monsters went to sleep.


	3. Birthday Partying and School Starting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is getting along quite well, living on their own in the park. The monsters are worried about them, though. But it is not like they can do anything. Frisk is nowhere to be found.

A month later, Frisk was getting on quite well. Living on a bench had been fun, so far. It was more adventure, they thought. But it was tiring, and their back hurt from sleeping on a hard surface every night. But it was nothing the young child couldn’t handle! They had also lost a lot of weight. Even though they could go for a while without eating because style never got too hungry, food was still a bit hard to come by. 

Food and trash were usually left by the picnic tables in the park, and the trash cans there were always loaded with food scraps. Frisk was not one to be picky about their food, and they were fine with eating out of the garbage cans. They also sometimes got special food if children had birthdays in the park. Even in only the timespan of a month, they had become good friends with some of the children that played there regularly.

The park was a few blocks away from an elementary school so a lot of the kids walked over there to play and Frisk played with those kids. Sometimes kids asked where their parents were, and Frisk always said that their parents let them go to the park by themselves! The kids were all amazed by this and thought Frisk was cool. Frisk said they lived nearby the park if the kids asked where they lived.

Frisk knew how to dance around some questions too, especially if parents of their friends started asking questions. When parents would ask about why they were always dirty, they said they hated taking baths. Parents would sometimes ask them about why they wore the same sweater every day. At first, they did not know what to say. But then they said that it was really comfy and they had multiples of that sweater. Their parents were so nice, they bought them ten sweaters of the same pattern. Adults seemed satisfied with their answer. When Frisk was asked why they looked malnourished, they said that they just had a fast metabolism. The other kids were impressed because they did not know what that meant.

When kids asked why they never went to school, they said they were homeschooled, and they had their own schedule. That is why they could be at the park so often.

They had been invited to one girl’s birthday party named Jessica. Jessica was nice and she was turning 11. She was a few months older than Frisk. Frisk had gotten loads of food and treats a the birthday party and they were so happy after. They snuck a little bit of food back to their home when they said they needed to use the restroom. They felt bad for doing so, but they reminded themselves that Jessica’s mom told them they could eat as much as they liked at the party. She didn’t say they needed to eat the food that day.

After the party, when they had looked at their hoard they had brought back from the party, they had taken one slightly smashed piece of cake, a bag of chips, some cookies, and the vegetable platter Jessica’s mom had let them take home after none of the children even touched it except for Frisk.

They were more than satisfied. This would last them for a long time!

Frisk was starting to miss the monsters, though. Their phone had died early on, and they never called their friends from the underground. They did not even have a phone charger, though they were sure they had the money to buy some. Frisk was hesitant to use their gold because they did not want to attract attention to themselves, so they never bought their food, but if they really wanted to get a phone charger to call the monsters, they could. They still did not, though. Frisk did feel bad, because they were sure Toriel wanted to see them again. Papyrus, probably, too. But they might be busy, still working on monster relations with the humans, and starting up their new lives in this new world.

Frisk could handle themselves without the monsters! They were a big kid now! And they were on an adventure! 

The original adventure excitement had worn off a bit more now. Life was a little less exciting and now it was just cold. It was now mid-autumn, and it was getting quite chilly. Frisk’s sweater protected them mostly from the chill, but soon it would not be enough. Hopefully, by then they could get a coat.

Frisk also really liked to play on the trees. When it was a time that a normal kid was not playing on the equipment, if it would look unusual for them to be doing so, they instead climbed the trees. It was really fun, actually. They tried to see how high they could climb and every time they got a little bit higher. There was this really comfy and safe part of the tree that they liked to spend time in. 

Frisk had found some old paper in the trash. Different kinds of paper. Lots of used napkins, and some paper plates. They once found a coloring book in the trash. That was a real treat for them. Once, they had found a pencil on the ground on the sidewalk. It was a mechanical pencil with lots of lead in it. It was ugly, though. It had bite marks on it and part of it was broken. It still worked. 

So Frisk liked to draw on the pieces of paper they found. They drew up in the safe part of the tree. They did that when they were bored and tired and didn’t feel like playing but didn’t feel like sleeping.  
Once, Frisk fell asleep in that little nook in the tree. They woke up with their back aching like nobody’s business. It hurt their back and neck more than sleeping on the bench. They made sure not to do that again.  
✦✦✦✦✦✦  
Toriel was worried. All the monsters were, right now. Frisk was never answering their phone. The first few days they could excuse that Frisk was busy, but it had been an entire month and none of the monsters could contact Frisk. They did not even know where Frisk was! Alphys had tried to track their location using their phone, but it would not work!

All the monsters were really worried about Frisk, but they were also very busy. Papyrus was their ambassador and while he made a good image of the monsters to the public, there were still many issues to work out. They had their own lives to get in order, too. Toriel had already purchased land for her school and she opened a small school for monsters and humans. Surprisingly, there were some humans that came to the school. Human parents seemed to be sending their children there to get a new experience or to learn how to coexist peacefully with the monsters. There was also a zero-bullying policy and so that was a great place for kids who might get picked on.

The school was running very well. It had been open for about a week, now, and already there were new children, monsters and humans, joining everyday. Even if it was in the middle of the school year. Toriel had hoped that Frisk would be able to go to that school. Bur none of the monsters knew where they were! Toriel just hoped that maybe they had not gotten a chance to contact the monsters and would do so soon.

Sans was always very relaxed, and it was hard to tell if he was worried for the child or not if you did not know him. But Toriel could tell in the way his smile tightened just a little bit if Frisk was mentioned. How he avoided the subject go them as much as possible. But what were they to do? 

They were probably just worrying for nothing, Toriel reassured herself. Frisk was probably safe at home with their real family, and there must be some reason that they were not contacting the monsters. Maybe Frisk got a new phone and they had lost all of the monsters’ contacts. Toriel couldn’t really believe herself, but she had to try. She was, after all, a mother, and mothers worried too much.


	4. A Game of Tag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monster Kid goes to the park and plays tag. They see someone they did not expect to see.

Monster Kid was having a really fun time on the surface. They loved the weather and how it changed all the time. The leaves had been falling when they first emerged from their home for their whole life, and now it was starting to snow. The weather was like Snowdin in the Underground. They liked the familiarity of it all.

Monster Kid was also really enjoying Miss Toriel’s school. She was a really fun teacher, but at the same time, she always looked kind of sad, even if she tried to hide it. Monster Kid’s heroes, Papyrus and Undyne, also were sad and distraught. But Papyrus and Undyne tried to use their excitement to cover it up, and sometimes it worked. But other times Monster Kid would see Undyne punching something or suplexing something out of sheer anger.

The skeleton guy who always sold hot dogs was always a really funny guy for Monster Kid to go to. Since he was a skeleton just like Papyrus, he thought they were probably related, but they weren’t sure. They were pretty sure the short skeleton’s name was something like Sans. Sans always made puns and he always sold hot dogs to humans and monsters alike. Monster Kid had become a regular customer, and sometimes Sans piled up hot dogs or hot…cats?… on their head. They always laughed at that, and Sans would look amused but almost distant at the same time. His smile would be a little strained. Just a little bit.

It seemed like a lot of monsters were missing something. Monster Kid was, too. They missed Frisk. Not too much, but still. Frisk was a fun friend to play with, and Frisk had held their umbrella in the underground because they did not have arms.

Frisk had not been seen or contacted since they came out of the underground. A lot of monsters wanted to see them again.

Monster Kid thought about all of this on their way to the park by the elementary school. They had visited that park sometimes, but not very often. Their parents had finally let them go out on their own. They had not at first, because they were new to the surface, but after a while, they could go out on their own.

As soon as Monster Kid made it to the park, they ran to the equipment. There were lots of different places where there were lots of other children they could play with. But they first went to the swing set, where they would have had to brush off a little bit of frost and snow that had gathered on it, but when they tried to brush it off, they still did not have arms. They laughed at themselves. But at the same time, they wished they could have arms, so they could do what a lot of other people could do. 

Monster Kid spotted where some kids were playing on the monkey bars. They definitely could not play on those. They could slide down the slide, and they could play hopscotch, and they could do a lot of activities and games, but there was still a lot they could not do. They could not climb at all, or hang. The small zip-line looked really cool. But they could not do that. So they instead went over to where some children were playing.

They saw some kids. In this group, there were no monsters, but the kids looked inclusive. Monster Kid wanted to join in on that group. They walked over to the children and asked if they could join in whatever game they were playing. The kids let them join their game of tag. They all introduced their names, and the girl who was it called herself Jessica. When they started playing, more kids joined. When Monster Kid was running, they looked around at some kids that were playing. There were kids with yellow hair, kids with black hair, kids with red hair, and kids with brown hair.

There was one kid with brown hair that looked familiar. The kid with brown hair was being chased by Jessica and they were laughing. Monster Kid knew that laugh! But then Jessica realized that she would not be able to catch the other brunette kid. They were too fast for her. Before they could say anything, Jessica started to chase after Monster Kid and they were distracted again.

Monster Kid was eventually tagged and then they saw what looked like…

Frisk? 

They weren’t sure though. It was the same brown haired kid from before that they thought they recognized. They did not look exactly like Frisk, though. The kid still had some differences. They were skinnier than Frisk was in the underground, not that Frisk wasn’t a stick when they saw them last. Frisk wasn’t wearing the sweater they were wearing before, or it did not look like it. It looked more like a brown sweater than a blue one. Their hair was longer, too. They still did resemble Frisk.

Monster Kid was too out of breath from being chased and chasing that they couldn’t talk, but they still tried to run after the Frisk-kid and tag them with their head, since they did not have arms to touch the other child with. But, the inevitable happened. Monster Kid tripped like they always did. It hurt, too. This time they had a reason, though. There was a little bit go frozen water on the ground that they had slipped on. They face-planted directly onto some ice, and then they could not catch the Frisk-kid. They looked back at Monster Kid as they fell, though. Once they saw them, the brown-haired child widened their eyes and tried to get away from Monster Kid.

Monster Kid jumped up and chased after a different kid, who they caught and bumped with their head. Monster Kid had to stop and catch their breath, now that they were safe. They were playing with the no-tag-backs rule. They walked over to a bench where they could sit, and they decided to watch the game for a little bit.

It was getting cold, Monster Kid realized as they started to shiver. They should probably have worn more clothing. Next time they came they would wear a scarf and hat. It was almost winter, anyway. It was the beginning of December, and the snow had started falling a little while ago. The winds that had made the weather very cold a little while ago had died down now, there was just fresh snowfall every now and then. Monster Kid looked forward to when they would be able to ice skate, because that was na activity that did not require arms or hands.

As Monster Kid sat on the bench, they saw the Frisk-kid. They actually saw their full face now, at a front view. Frisk-kid was sitting on the swings Monster Kid earlier abandoned and the swings faced the bench that Monster Kid was sitting on. 

Monster Kid knew for sure that Frisk was the child they had been looking at. At closer look, Frisk was wearing the same sweater they had worn underground, and it looked kinda torn and just really dirty, it looked almost like a brown sweater. 

Monster Kid called out their name, and Frisk looked at them. They smiled, and then they seemed to come to their senses. They looked like they were panicking. Monster Kid got up to go say hi to Frisk, but as soon as Frisk realized what they were doing, they got up and ran. 

Monster Kid tried to follow after them. They did not know where Frisk was going, but they could not keep up with Frisk as they ran. Frisk was a very fast runner. Monster Kid did not have any hope of catching up, and at the worst possible time, they fell again. When they looked up, they couldn’t see Frisk anywhere.


	5. Please, Don't Run Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk's point of view on the meeting with Monster Kid. They get a new jacket. They also meet someone that they would rather not see. A good friend.

Frisk was playing at the park. They had really adjusted to their life here, for the most part. Food was getting harder to come by, and it was getting colder. It was late autumn, almost winter. They needed new clothing, as their sweater was almost brown and torn in a few places. It was also getting worn thin. They really missed the monsters, too.

 

But they could tell themselves that they were enjoying their life. They could tell themselves that, even if it was not really true. They had lied to themselves their whole life, anyway. Why was it so hard now?

 

Frisk joined in on a game of tag. Jessica was it, and after awhile she started chasing Frisk. They ran and ran as fast as they could away from her. They had a greta time and they started laughing! Of course, they outran her. They had survived the underground after all, and they had ran away from Undyne like they were playing tag. Jessica stopped chasing Frisk and went to tag another. Frisk took this opportunity to rest a little bit before they were eventually chased and tagged again.

 

Another kid was it and tried to catch Frisk. They knew before even looking and they ran without a look at who their chaser was. They ran fast to get away and then they heard the kid fall. Being the pacifist they are, Frisk immediately wanted to help them get up. But then Frisk saw who it was. It was Monster Kid! 

 

If Monster Kid saw Frisk then Monster Kid could tell the monsters where Frisk was then Frisk would bother the monsters again and they couldn’t do that. They had to get away! Frisk panicked and just ran away from Monster Kid. When they looked back, the child had not gotten up from where they fell. Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe Monster Kid had not recognized them! They hoped so. Or hopefully the monster child would not tell the monsters.

 

Frisk was worried now. Would they have to not play in the park anymore for fear of any monsters seeing them? The park was really the highlight in Frisk’s life, being able to play with other children be a normal kid for a few hours a day.

 

They could always draw more in their tree, but to draw they needed paper and to get paper they needed to go out into the open where there were trash cans that they could steal paper from.

 

Frisk didn’t want to play anymore. There were too many troubling thoughts brewing in their mind for them to take part in a game such as tag right now. So they walked over to the swing set and sat on one of the swings, just swaying there for a while. Frisk knew that Monster Kid might be able to see them again. They almost wished they did, so that maybe the monsters could know about them and they would be able to see their friends again.

 

But Frisk shook that thought out of their mind. Even though they missed the monsters terribly, they could not go back to the monsters. Especially now since it was so long since they had last seen or spoken to them.

 

Frisk looked up. They felt like they were being watched. Sure enough, there was Monster Kid, staring back at them. They smiled. They missed Monster Kid, and they missed the monsters. But then Monster Kid started to walk over to them and they panicked. They got up and ran as fast as they could, back to their home. They needed the extra blanket they had managed to pick up anyway, since it was cold. It was an old picnic blanket someone had left at the park.

 

Frisk kept running and when they finally looked back, they could not see Monster Kid anywhere. Mission accomplished!

 

But at the same time they were sad. If they had only run a little slower maybe Monster Kid could catch up to them. But why would they want that? Did they want to be caught? That’s crazy. Great thinking, Frisk! Try to get caught when the whole reason you are doing this is that you don’t get caught!

 

After a while of Frisk huddled up in their blanket and hiding up in the tree, they got down. They wanted to walk around the city a little bit, in the snow that was starting to fall. It was a light snow, perfect for early Christmastime.

 

They slowly walked around. They really needed to find a coat that they could start to wear. It was going to be very cold soon now that it was December. Frisk was getting tried to. They started to drag their feet and look down at the ground, not even knowing where they were going. When they were looking on the ground, they found something that made them feel like the luckiest person in the world. It was a ten dollar bill. A whole ten dollars! All to themselves!

 

Eventually, Frisk made it up to one of their favorite stores before the Underground and monsters and all of that. It was the store that had the arcade inside. It was a thrift clothing store, but it had a ping pong table and some arcade games. The games were free and Frisk used to come here all the time because their parents were never home and they got bored just sitting at the house all by themselves.

 

Frisk walked in. They wanted to get in from the cold, first of all. They wanted to play some games, and— a miraculous idea suddenly came onto them! They could use the ten dollars for a used winter coat from this store.

 

They looked around and found a baby blue jacket that looked worn in but still warm. It even had a fur-lined hood! It was exactly $10 and this store never charged tax. They purchased the jacket and slipped it on. It was a lot warmer and now they could blend in more. This wasn’t dirty or torn like the sweater under the coat.

 

Frisk then played some arcade games. It was so cool and fun to finally be back after so long. Frisk spend awhile there and it was early evening by the time they got out. The sun was starting to set.

 

Frisk decided they should head back to their home, the bench in the park. They started the maybe 20 minute walk back.

 

Walking there, they saw someone they recognized. They spent most of their time looking at the ground, but they felt like they should look up. They did. Oh man.

 

Walking towards them was Sans. He had not seen them yet, and were they glad for that. Monster Kid recognizing them was something that made them uneasy. Sans seeing them would surely bring them out of the home they were living in now and they would have to go back to their own parents.

 

Frisk decided to book it, away from Sans. They had to run past him, but hopefully they could manage without him noticing. He was looking at the ground like they were just a minute ago.

 

And so they ran, but as they got closer to him, he looked up. His eye lights enlarged when he saw them by a large amount. He was shocked and Frisk knew he recognized them. They tried to run even faster and he yelled their name as he tried to catch their hand.

 

But they dodged his attempt and were able to get away from him. When they looked back, they saw that Sans had not been able to follow him because there was a group of people blocking the sidewalk. They were relieved, so relieved, but disappointed. Like before, and they were mad at themselves for it.

 

But they could not dwell on that. So they just walked home as fast as they could and arrived safely back at their bench and tree.


	6. Just in Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans does extra work than he would usually. Just in case.

When the monsters got onto the surface, they were ecstatic. Centuries of imprisonment had finally led to this moment. When Sans saw the sun for the first time, it was everything he ever wished for and more. Especially when he saw how happy Papyrus was about it. He was really thankful to the kid in that moment. This child, Frisk, had gone through hell and back to get all of the monsters to the surface. 

Then Frisk left. Which disappointed all the monsters, but they knew that Frisk probably had a family that they wanted to get back to. What surprised them, though, is that Frisk never answered their phone after that. They seemed to disappear from existence, in fact. 

Nobody could find them anywhere. The monsters looked, but there was only so much they could do. 

Sans, well, he had complicated feelings about this. He missed the kid, a lot. He knew Papyrus really wanted to see them, too. He became worried about the kid when Frisk was never seen. Sure, it was okay the first week or so, when all the monsters were busy. But when they never responded to anyone’s messages or calls, not even Toriel’s, he got worried. 

Were they okay? Were they ignoring the monsters? Sans hoped not. He could not think of anything the monsters had done, and Frisk had looked so happy when they watched the sunset together. 

Sans then had worried about Frisk. About their parents. Were their parents somehow restricting Frisk from speaking to the monsters? Toriel had told everyone how Frisk looked so hesitant when they told her they had “places to go”. Which was a weirdly vague way to word an answer to a direct question. 

Sans felt like they were dancing around the real question. About if they were going to go back to their family. Which furthered Sans’ worry about the fallen child from the surface. 

Sans spent a lot of time at Grillby’s. He and his brother went there a lot. They would always update Grillby on what was going down with Frisk. Most of the time, there was nothing new. 

Sans sat down in his usual booth. Papyrus was not with him today. Sans gingerly put down an extra whoopee cushion in the place across from him where someone might sit. Just in case. 

When Sans ordered his food, he ordered extra fries. Grillby just nodded. This had become routine, Sans ordering extra fries. Just in case, right?

And Sans stayed in his booth long after he had finished his meal. Just in case. 

 

Just in case Frisk came back. Just in case they needed food, and so they could laugh when they sat on the extra whoopee cushion. 

But nobody came. Of course. But it was just in case.


	7. New News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back when the monsters had Thanksgiving (without Frisk). Sans tries but fails to catch Frisk. The monsters do not take the news about Frisk well.

The monsters weren’t happy. Toriel no longer laughed at Sans’ puns unless it was forced. She only spent time trying to pull strings to search for Frisk. Nothing really seemed to work. They only found that Frisk was not enrolled in any schools in a hundred mile radius. That was Alphys’ doing.

 

So where were they? Where was the kid? Where was Frisk? 

 

There was a human holiday called “Thanksgiving”. The monsters did not really know what it was, but they found enough to know it was about being thankful for family and friends. The monsters did not celebrate it traditionally, but they tried.

 

Toriel cooked up a meal for the closest friends Frisk had made in the Underground. Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Asgore, and herself. Everyone contributed, and Toriel tried making a different pie than last time.

 

Sans brought a quiche. He did not abandon this one, though. Papyrus and Undyne both brought spaghetti. Inedible, as expected. Alphys brought cat cookies from “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie”. Asgore brought Golden flower Tea for everyone. Undyne brought it up that Frisk liked that type of tea. Everyone had glanced at her but decided not to say anything.

 

Toriel made a pumpkin pie to go along with her butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It really was a hit.

 

“WOWIE! THIS PUMPKIN PIE TRULY IS AS GREAT AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

 

Everyone brought a little extra food than they would normally, and there was an extra place setting at the table. Just in case.

 

A little later, Mettaton had barged in with a load of Glamburgers. He was…. a little bit less aware of how everyone was feeling. He openly mentioned Frisk with no abandon, not noticing how everyone avoided the subject in order to spare themselves from the discussion and the emotions that would come afterward. Plus, they all knew that the other missed Frisk and that this holiday they wished they could be thankful just to have Frisk home, safe and warm.

 

What they would have done to just get their savior back. Their child, their human, their bud, their bestie. The child that saved them all.

 

But Thanksgiving passed, with no sign of Frisk. No phone call, no contact or even sight of them.

 

 

Sans always went on walks now. Before, he was to lazy to even travel places. He would only teleport there. Find an even lazier way to travel than walk. But still, he made the extra effort to walk without really going anywhere. Just in case.

 

Maybe he could see Frisk, and talk to them. How he would love to do that.

 

It was starting to feel like Sans’ old home. It was snowy again, and that comforted Sans, reminded him of his old home. Which he and his brother had literally brought up to the surface.

 

Sans was walking back to his home. He had just come back from the route he walked every day. It was a couple miles around. Papyrus saw him walking home and called him inside. 

 

“SANS! COME INSIDE! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU!”

 

Sans walked inside and came into their living room, sitting on the green couch. “what is it, bro?”

 

“SANS! I HAVE BOUGHT SOMETHING I THINK THE HUMAN MIGHT LIKE! I AM HOPING I WILL SEE THEM AGAIN SOON! NOBODY CAN IGNORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FOR A LONG TIME! THEY WILL EVENTUALLY COME BACK TO THEIR FRIEND. AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I HAVE THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THEM! YOU SEE, I AM NOT LAZY LIKE YOU SANS! I HAVE ALREADY GATHERED CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR EVERYONE, A MONTH EARLY! MY PRESENT FOR FRISK IS A NEW SWEATER AND A SCARF TO MATCH IT. THAT WAY THEY CAN FEEL LIKE ME WITH THEIR SCARF! IT IS PERFECT! NYEH HEH HEH!”

 

The sweater was red with blue stripes. There was a red scarf like Papyrus’s to go along with it and it looked cute, but it just made Sans more sad about his current situation and not being able to find Frisk.

 

“nice, bro. i haven’t gotten gifts for anyone yet. i’ll probably wait till christmas eve.”

 

Sans thought more about Frisk, and how they were not home, where they belonged, at their real home. Wherever they called their home now was not their real home.

 

Sans was walking one time, the same route he always did, when he saw exactly who he was looking for. He felt like he wouldn’t see anyone that day, so he just kept his eyes on the ground on the entire walk. He heard someone running and he looked up, and it was the child who he wanted to see the most. His eyelights dilated and he tried to catch Frisk by their arm. They were running away from him, it seemed like.

 

Sans wasn’t fast enough for Frisk. They pulled their arms away from him and he couldn’t catch them. He tried to run after them but at the worst possible moment a group of people came out of the store next to him and blocked him from running after Frisk. He called out their name.

 

“frisk! frisk, please come back!”

 

They did not hear him.

 

Sans was utterly shocked that he could not get Frisk back. He had seen them, but he could not catch them. He was so disappointed in himself. He had to tell all the monsters, too, that he had seen Frisk and had not gotten them.

 

But at least they were here. He had not really been able to get a good look at them, but he saw that they were wearing a jacket, which was good. They were dressed for the weather, but he had barely seen their sweater from the underground underneath. It was dirty and torn. They were leaner, and their hair was longer. They had a grungier look about them.

 

That made Sans all the more worried about Frisk. Everything about them, all of the details, were swirling around in his head. Skull. The unanswered messages and phone calls. The torn sweater. They were running away from him. They were not enrolled in any schools. They had not been seen for almost two months. The hesitance and the vague answer about their home and their parents.

 

What was wrong? Did they not have a family or home to go back to? That would make sense. They weren’t enrolled in schools, they were never seen, maybe their phone was dead. Their torn sweater that had not changed since the time he first saw them. Their grungy look and poor appearance. But why were they running away then? Did they not want to be found?

 

Sans shivered, even though he could not feel cold. He shivered about something else. Sans had to tell everyone about this, and maybe he would tell them about his suspicions.

 

He went back and was going to tell them. He would not see all of the monsters until the weekend, and he could wait that long. It was less than two days. He wouldn’t tell Papyrus until he could tell everyone at the same time. Guess this was another secret he would have to keep to himself for the time being.

 

When the weekend came, before Sans could say anything, Toriel approached everyone and told them that on Thursday afternoon, Monster Kid had seen Frisk playing at the park. They had told Toriel at school the next day, worried for their friend’s health. They told Toriel that FRisk was so skinny, unhealthily, and that they were wearing the same sweater from the Underground. It was so dirty it almost looked as if it were a sweater made to be brown. It was also tattered. Their hair was a bit long and really messy, too.

 

The monsters became excited, and then angry or flustered or frustrated or sad after they heard about Frisk’s condition. They seemed to not take the news well. Alphys hugged Undyne, worried for her friend. Undyne jumped up. “Let’s go get Frisk! We have to find my bestie and bring them back home!

She pumped her fists in the air. Papyrus agreed with her. They became very excited, but Toriel had to calm them down. It was dark on a Friday night, and they did not want to search when it was dark outside. It took awhile, and then Toriel eventually convinced them. She looked to Sans for help, but he just shrugged.

 

Welp, this was not going to be good. But he had to do it.

 

Sans cleared his throat and told them his story, that same evening, and also his suspicions. It was not taken well.


	8. Which path will you take?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk finally gets a break.

Frisk was so glad they had their blanket and jacket. It was very close to Christmas now, and it was very cold. They were not dressed for the weather and it would be in their best interest to find somewhere warm. Inside, preferably. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that luxury.

Frisk was getting sad. They no longer felt like living out in the park was an adventure. It was cold and they were hungry and they were getting unhealthily skinny. They were turning eleven in a small amount of time and they were probably about the same weight as some of the seven-year-olds at the park that they would see.

Would Frisk even make it to their eleventh birthday? Who knows. Maybe they would starve or freeze before then. It surely seemed Ike that was a possibility. They had an entire two weeks to wait if they wanted to live until their birthday.

Frisk was currently sitting in their little nook in their tree. It swayed with the winds and their tangly, greasy hair whipped around their face.

Frisk was not nearly getting the amount of food they needed to. They shivered from the bitter cold. There were no longer people going to the park for picnics so they got no food from that. They had started going to the city to try to see what food they could get.   
  
Which is what Frisk needed to do right now. They had not eaten in awhile and they required energy.

Once they got down and started to walk, Frisk’s legs immediately started shaking. The wind started picking up, too, once they managed to wobble a little bit of a ways away from the park.

The way they were walking, trying to decide where they should go to get garbage they could eat, they were leaning and trembling so much is looked as though they would turn over. If anyone were out in this weather, they would have been amazed that Frisk was even able to stand. They were as small as a stick, and they looked as if they were scissors trying to stand up to rock, almost toppling over in the strong winds.

And it was so cold. Ice bit into their cheeks with the fangs of the arctic, making any exposed skin raw and red. They shivered even more. They needed to get inside somewhere. Forget about food!

Frisk walked into a cafe without knowing it. A coffee shop. The entire store was decorated for Christmas, with gifts and specialty drinks made for the holidays. And the smells tempted them so!

Frisk was really sad about Christmas. It was always their favorite holiday when they were younger, the one time their parents got something for them. Sure, they never were actually there when Frisk opened their gifts, but Frisk could take them out from under the tree where they were left.

Now Frisk has nothing. No home, no new nothing. No food, even! They were getting sick, they thought. They probably just had a sore throat, but they still felt terrible. Maybe in here, they could order a warm drink and—- no!

They couldn’t do that. They would draw attention to themselves! Resist the temptation! Resist the temptation! Frisk looked down. Their stomach was rumbling.

They gave in. They walked up to the counter and ordered all the sweets on the menu, then a breakfast sandwich to be healthy, and then 3 warm drinks. A sugary one, a coffee, and some warm tea to help with their sore throat.

They paid with gold, and still had a lot leftover from the Underground. They were giddy with excitement. They took their haul to their table. They knew they would save a lot for later. Drink a bit of the coffee, save the rest for later. Drink most of the sugary drink, save a bit for later. Eat 3 sweets until they were bloated, save the rest for later. They drank the tea last, and they drank it all up. They had to, because otherwise it would get cold. Their throat felt a bit better after that.

Frisk came out of the coffee shop feeling a lot better thank when they came in. They wrapped up all their food and drinks safely and started out.

They decided they should buy themselves a Christmas present. They deserved it, don’t you think so?

They went and bought themselves a phone charger. Now they could use their phone! Frisk stayed in that store for a little while, because they got free cell service. They did not at the park, they figured.

They checked the social media of all the monsters, just to see how they were doing. They smiled at Alphys’ and Undyne’s posts about each other. They were so cute, Frisk thought. Toriel’s posts were about random things. “Look at this little white dog who tried to steal my phone! Again.” Accompanied by picture of said dog.

Papyrus posted every day about how great he was, among other things. Mettaton was a sponsored account, with a check to mark him as a famous person.

Sans almost never posted. But there was one post that Frisk saw by him, and all of Frisk’s other friends had the same post on their profile, too. A post talking about them along with a picture of them. “Have you seen this person?” That kind of post.

Frisk was shocked by this post and in their haste to get off from it, they liked it. With their account name, “friskhuman647”

Oh no.

It was good to see that the monsters were doing fine, but Frisk shut off their phone after that in frustration and shock. They just informed the monsters they were on social media and their phone was working. Somebody could now message them through their account. This was bad!!!

Frisk logged out of their account. They didn’t know how to delete it but oh well. They just turned their phone all the way off and ran back their home.

They were so panicked that the monsters would be able to find them. That was bad. Bad bad bad!!

But was it really? Was it really bad if the monsters found them, just in time for Christmas? They could celebrate it with a real family, for the first time ever! Would you call that a bad thing?

But that was selfish. Who says the monsters even wanted them back anyway?

The social media post did. Sans did. Monster kid did. Was Frisk really unwanted, or were they lying to themselves?

But even if the monsters did want them, they would probably have to go back home to their biological family. Then they maybe wouldn’t even be able to see the monsters at all.

Frisk really wanted to talk to someone though. One of their friends. A cell phone call wouldn’t hurt, would it?

It would, though. The monsters would want to find them and take them away and then Frisk would be forced to go back to the family that never wanted them.

So they couldn’t call the monsters, no matter how much they wanted to.

But they were so tired of their bench at the park and the tree and the slides and swings and trash and portable toilet and cold and snow! And the loneliness. They were so lonely. They just wanted to sit by a fire, with a warm blanket, cradled in someone’s arms, a mug of hot cocoa, and clean clothes. A warm shower. A full belly. All things they couldn’t have here at the park.

But things that they _could_ have at home. Their real home. With the monsters. Home is where the heart is. And there’s no place like home for the holidays.

Frisk was torn at the two completely different paths their life would take at this one decision. If they called the monsters, they could get a loving family and everything they ever wanted, or they could get stuck with their same unloving family. If they didn’t call, they could learn to line a happy, independent life at the park. A lonely, but safe one. A predictable life.

The road of their life was now splitting into two big paths, ones that would never intersect. Which path would they take?


	9. An Unexpected Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans talks to Frisk. Surprisingly to everyone, Frisk responds.

It was almost Christmas, and the monsters just wanted Frisk back! Everyone had gotten gifts for them and put them under the Christmas tree, and they all went out of their way to try to find Frisk.

 

Just in case, right?

 

Everyone really missed Frisk. The monsters flipped out when they heard about Frisk in the park and running away from Sans. How they were doing, and once they heard Sans’s thoughts about their situation. Everyone was so worried for them. They all cared for Frisk so much.

 

Why could Frisk not accept their help? Why did Frisk have to run away from Sans? Why did Frisk not want the monsters’ help? Why were they afraid of their friends? They were never afraid of them in the Underground. Frisk was the most merciful and loving person any of them knew. They were so ready to make friends with those who wanted to kill them. Why were they suddenly afraid of their friends? Those who cared for them so much.

 

The monsters wanted Frisk to come back. Toriel, every day, would ask the children at her school if they had seen Frisk. Almost every day, there were no reports. But sometimes there were. Some children would say they thought they saw Frisk walking across the street, or playing on the monkey bars, or climbing the trees. They would say that Frisk was wearing torn clothes, or that they were so small. They said that from the side, or from the back, they looked like a much younger child.

 

Alphys was working to try to get CCTV footage of the city to see if she could see where Frisk went. Mettaton broadcasted about how he was looking for Frisk, and how anyone who might have seen them should report them to him or Toriel, the principal and founder of the new monster-human school.

 

Jessica and her parents watched Mettaton. They didn’t go to the park anymore because it was way too cold to be out, let alone to run around and play. Jessica urged her parents to report that they had seen Frisk at the park 24/7 in the fall and early winter.

 

They did so and Mettaton thanked them for their report. He told the monsters and they now knew that Frisk spent a lot of time at the park. But surely they would not be out in this weather, right?

 

No one who did report had made any lasting contact with Frisk. It seemed Frisk was careful to not get too attached to anyone. What was their problem? Why could they not accept help? Any normal child would, but Frisk was no normal run of the mill child, were they? 

 

But the search for Frisk still showed up no new results. The monsters would always spend time together every Saturday night. But when this happened, they now did not really enjoy it. They would often sit there and talk about trying to find Frisk and what they were doing and what they could do.

Day by day, the presents under the Christmas tree piled up. The monsters set up one Christmas tree for all of them in Sans’s and Papyrus' house. It was where they spent the most time at. It was the largest household, with two stories. There were lots of presents for each other that Frisk’s friends had given each other, but there were also many presents for Frisk.

 

Every day, Sans or Papyrus would open the door when someone knocked on it. They dropped off another present under the tree.

 

Toriel would silently cry for her child at night. How she missed them so! How she worried about them. If she knew this was what they would do when they left her, she would have encouraged them not to. Why did they feel the need to run away from her loving and safe arms and warm pie? She worried about them, constantly. Every second of her day was filled with worry for her child.

 

Sans looked in shock at the notification he had gotten from his phone. At first glance, it had seemed harmless. Just someone person liking his post. But then he saw the post. He had posted that a while ago. That was strange, but not something he would bat an eye at. Then he saw who liked it.

 

Sans called Papyrus. “yo, pap, come in here. there’s something you have to see.”

 

“WHAT IS IT, SANS? I AM BUSY DOING ACTUAL WORK. NOT LAZING AROUND ON MY PHONE!”

 

“no seriously. it’s important. really important.”

 

Papyrus knew it was serious if Sans wasn’t even cracking a simple joke.

 

“look who just liked my social media post from a few weeks back. the one about how frisk is missing.”

 

“FRISKHUMAN647! WHY, THAT’S FRISK! WE NEED TO TELLL EVERYONE IMMEDIATELY! THOUGH, OVER TEXT PLEASE. I WOULD RATHER NOT BE IN THE ROOM WHEN SHE FINDS OUT ABOUT FRISK. LAST TIME WAS NOT ENJOYABLE.”

 

Sans agreed. He was shocked that Frisk had liked his photo. He was glad about this, though. This meant they were using their phone again and that they were not ignoring him. Though if they were trying to hide from the monsters, going on social media may not have been the best idea. Was it an accident? Probably.

 

The monsters, again, flipped out at this news.

 

“We have to go, immediately! Let’s call Frisk! We have to get them back to us!" 

 

“Undyne, please, calm yourself. Yes, we will call Frisk, eventually. But if they are so worried about us seeing them and keep hiding from us, maybe we should not be so direct. As much as I am sorry to say that they do not trust me, I feel as though Sans would be the best to carry out this course of action. He was the one who got this notification about Frisk, and I feel as though they will feel the most safe coming to him. They do not know Asgore very well, they may be scared of Papyrus’ and Undyne’s enthusiasm, they may not want to worry Alphys, and they may feel as though I will not give them time to come to us. They probably think we will want to take them home immediately, not be patient with them. Let us give them time. Sans, can you talk to them?”

 

“uhhhhh, i guess. sure tori. anything to get the kid back.”

 

And so the matter was settled. Sans had to think of something to say to the kid. There were so many things he wanted to say, and yet he could not think of anything at all.

 

 

 

 

 

Sans went to direct message Frisk.

 

“hey, kid.”

“what’s the verdict? you’ve really made all the monsters very worried about you. you made tori cry. you made  _papyrus_ cry. so what’s the deal? why are you ignoring us? please, come back. we all really care about you, from the bottom of our hearts. not that i have one. we are all so worried about you, and we just want you back home. i’m worried about you, kid. bud. buddy. pal. stop trying to run away. we want you home for the holidays. there’s a lot of presents under the christmas tree just for you. we’re waiting until we can give them to you. you seem like you don’t have anything better to do on christmas. so why don’t you just come back, please, just come on home.”

 

To his surprise, Sans got a reply within a few minutes. When he pulled it up, his eyes went dark. It was a very cryptic response.

 

“I don’t belong there. I don’t belong here, either, where I am now. I guess I just don’t belong anywhere.”

 

Why? Why did Frisk think that?  _Who_  made them think that? No child of their age should have those thoughts. Sans did not know how to convince Frisk to come home. He had tried everything.

 

“can you tell me where you are? if you don’t belong there, maybe i can take you somewhere you do belong.”

 

“i’m sorry. i can’t tell you where i am. just”

“forget about me, okay?”

“please”

 

Sans would never forget about Frisk, and he wished they knew that. He knew no matter what amount of convincing he tried, they would not budge in their decision.

 

Sans had no choice but to tell the monsters about Frisk’s response. Toriel broke down into tears. So did Papyrus. Alphys freaked out and started stuttering while trying to reply. Undyne got so mad, she could not contain it. She ran outside and suplexed a table chair, breaking it in the process. Asgore just looked so sad and disappointed.

 

Welp, nothing worse than Sans expected.

 

After that, the monsters tried even more to find Frisk. It was more important than ever. To get them before they froze to death, too.


	10. A Close Encounter, A Narrow Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk decides to get everyone a gift! Oh! And also, Frisk had decided which path to take.

This was bad. Frisk was still panicking about how they had accidentally liked Sans’ post. Oh no oh no oh no!

But what did the monsters do in response? Did they try to message Frisk? They logged back into their account to see. Sure enough, their were two unread messages from Sans. Why did it have to be Sans? How did the monsters know that he was the only one they would actually listen to?

They read the message. They were shocked at the sincerity of his words. Sure, sometimes he could be serious, but most of the time he was just “the comedian” who always smiled and cracked the worst jokes imaginable. But especially because the message was coming from him, the words really meant something to them. They started crying.

They knew all the monsters cared! They didn’t think the monsters cared enough about them to cry over them. Frisk felt bad about that. They didn't think that the monsters would want them home, their “real home, so bad. They wanted to listen to Sans. They wanted to listen to his words and heed his advice about coming home. They would be so much happier.

But they knew they didn’t belong there, with the monsters. They didn’t fit in. They now realized that they didn’t belong here at the park, either. They didn’t belong in their old home. Where could they belong? Nowhere, they guessed.

When Sans asked Frisk to tell him where they were, they knew they couldn’t. They hesitated, though. They almost told him. They typed up “I’m at the park. I’ve been living here the whole time. On a park bench. Where should I go so that you can pick me up?”

Then Frisk deleted the message letter by letter. Instead, they said ““i’m sorry. i can’t tell you where i am. just”

They wanted to say something, but they knew Sans would get upset about it. Maybe they shouldn’t send it? They really didn’t want to. It really went against their better judgement. But they did, anyway.  
“forget about me, okay?”

Their eyes welled up with tears again.

“please”

Sans didn’t respond after that. But it said that he had seen it. Oh, now they knew they had upset him. They turned off their phone, and sighed.

It warmed their heart that the monsters had gotten them presents for Christmas, but they weren’t about to step up and accept them. Eventually, the monsters could give it to other kids. Like Monster Kid, or maybe Temmie might like it! Frisk still appreciated the thought.

It was cold. Really cold and windy. Frisk shivered. But at least they had nice food and drink from the coffee shop. They let out a hoarse, bitter laugh, because their throat was still sore. Good food, good friends, bad laughs. How they missed Sans and all the monsters.

They got a marvelous idea. If the monsters had gotten them a present, they should get the monsters a present! It was risky, but it was worth it! It was the day before Christmas Eve, and they zipped up their jacket and went out into the cold weather to buy some presents.

Going around, they bought different gifts for different people using their gold from the Underground. Now, time to play Sansta and deliver the presents. They knew where Toriel’s school was, and they had seen where Sans and Papyrus’ house was. It wasn’t hard, they had the same house from Snowdin and it seemed out of place, not fitting in with the rest of the houses. Frisk had brought their pencil with them, and they wrote down everyone’s names. They figured they would drop off Toriel’s and Asgore’s presents at the school, and Sans’, Papyrus’, Undyne’s, and Alphys’ presents at the skeleton’s house.

Frisk delivered the Boss Monsters’ presents without a hitch at the school, and then they carefully approached Sans’ house to drop off the presents. They checked if there was anyway anyone could see them and they didn’t think so. They needed to be quiet if anyone was inside. They ran up to the door and dropped the presents off and then booked it out.

They spared a look back after they had run for a few seconds. Oh no. Oh great. Great!  
Sans was outside, looking at the presents. He had not seen them yet. Frisk was almost at a house where they could hide behind. They reached the house and dove behind, hiding. They got up and peeked around the corner. Sans was right next to them!

They tried to get away and he grabbed their hand. They struggled, kicking to get away. He pulled them close, trying to calm them down. “kid! pal! frisk. calm down. please, tell me what’s going on. let me take you home and we can have a little chat, huh?”

Frisk’s eyes widened. No. NO!

They struggled so hard even though Sans was holding them tight. With their determination, they broke free. Sans chased them but they were a really fast runner and they were outrunning him. Yes!

They ran long enough to get into a place with alleyways. They weaved through them, with Sans teleporting after them. But they were losing him, because they were going on such a complicated path. They were losing their breath and they were getting tired fast. They were in no condition to be expending this much energy.

They pushed out a last little bit, going very fast. They ducked into a store. They had lost Sans. Well, mission accomplished! They’d delivered the presents and they’d gotten away from their friend.

Frisk had to let out a nervous, bitter laugh. They smiled with relief and false cheer at the same time. They’d gotten away from Sans, but now he was going to tell the monsters about this. Great!

Oh-ho-ho man! This was bad. Very bad. 

They slowly came out of the store and when they did, it was late. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve! They would have to do something special for themselves on Christmas!

There was a persistent voice in the back of their mind, telling them to go to the monsters for help. That would be a great Christmas present!

They ignored the voice. Thinking back on it, Frisk decided what path they had chosen. The one where they didn’t call the monsters.

Heh heh.

The third bitter laugh of the day.


	11. Somebody Came

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting at Grillby's marks the end of this story.

It was almost 12 am on Christmas Eve. It was windy and snowing, the wind battering their skin. Frisk sat on their bench, as bundled up as they could, curled up in a very tight ball in order to seek as much warmth as they could. The hot tears falling down their face felt like they were turn into ice at any moment. Their shaky breaths came out white in the frosty air.

Frisk’s teeth were chattering violently. Their body shook not only from the cold, but also from their crying.

Frisk couldn’t take it anymore! This was their breaking point. 

“I’m lonely. I’m lonely,” they say, their voice more filled with sadness with each word they utter. “It’s Christmas Eve, and I have nobody to celebrate it with. No Christmas for me. There’s never any Christmas for me.” They continue, their voice starting to crack. “No one ever wants to. I miss them. I miss Sans, I miss Toriel, I miss Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore, even Mettaton, and Napstablook!” They start to talk really fast, tears drenching their face. “I wish I could celebrate Christmas with them. I know that’s selfish, but can’t I just have something I want for once? I can be selfish! I’m a child!” Their voice is barely above a whisper as they start to sing.

“For there’s no place like home for the holidays, ‘cause no matter how far away you go, if you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can’t be home sweet home.”

No one would see them. No one ever saw them on Christmas. Their parents were always busy before, and they never paid attention anyway. They never did. Now, Frisk was out on a bench, and no one would see them even here. Everyone was having fun at a party, or with their families. No one would see them, not at this late on Christmas Eve. 

Frisk’s hand itched towards the cell phone lying next to them. They had Sans’, and Toriel’s, and everyone else’s contact. They could call them at any time. Call for help.

But they didn’t. They could not bring themselves to do it. Frisk had lived without talking to them for almost three months, and they did not want to just call now. Especially because the monsters were all probably already asleep, or having fun at a party. It was late.

Before, Frisk had decided to go down the path where they never called the monsters. This decision furthered their walk down that path. But maybe, just maybe, they could backtrack their steps.

On the path of their life, Frisk turned around, walking back to the crossroads they had come to just a little while ago. They stayed there, rethinking their choice about which path to take. They decided, and they went down a path. The path where they called for help.

 

They could do this! Frisk could get help.

They called for help. Somebody came.

They messaged Sans. “Please, I need help. I’m sorry. I’ll be at Grillby’s.”

They shut off their phone and out it in their pocket. They got up, shivering violently in the chill of the night air.

It took a long time, especially since it was this late and they could not see, but Frisk made their way through the city streets. Shaky step by shaky step, they made it to Grillby’s. They slowly walked in and sat down. Grillby was there, and he looked surprised to see them. But they just told him to “be quiet, okay?” To ignore them. To trust them, they knew what they were doing.

Sans wasn’t there yet.

Frisk sat there for awhile, not ordering anything, not doing anything. Not keeping track of time. They never even second guessed coming to Grillby’s. They were fully confident in their decision.

A bell announced someone’s arrival into the diner. Frisk whipped their head around. Sans! He looked so relieved, and before he could walk over to them, they ran into his arms. They almost knocked him over with the force of their hug, but he hugged them back as soon as they got to him. They held each other for a long time, both crying. They were squeezing the life out of each other. Finally, Sans took a breath. “i missed ya buddy. let’s go home, okay?” 

Frisk nodded.


End file.
